Coco Fiber: Impaction risk?

[nmcnick]

I've heard all loose substrates run the risk of causing impaction, and while I see this as completely plausible, I don't see Coco Fiber (Eco Earth) as impacting a skink very easily. The main reason I bring this up is because my skink will NOT eat insects outside of his terrarium, and this runs the risk of him accidentally eating some coco fiber. Should I stop feeding him insects all together, replace his substrate with repticarpet or tile, or am I just worrying to much? Thanks for further input~

[Kurt]

Any loose substrate will bring some risk of impaction. Feeding live food in a tank with loose substrate further increases that risk. I use a chunkier loose substrate and I never feed live food in their tanks to reduce those risks. I think the risk with the cocofiber is small, but a risk I'm not willing to take. Might be safer to go with a 'chunkier' substrate like coco bark? Repticarpet is safe, but my bluey wasnt a big fan and it was a pain to clean...

[Kurt]

That being said, coco fiber is an acceptable substrate that supposedly works well. I was just giving you my personal opinion on the matter.

[nmcnick]

Any loose substrate will bring some risk of impaction. Feeding live food in a tank with loose substrate further increases that risk. I use a chunkier loose substrate and I never feed live food in their tanks to reduce those risks. I think the risk with the cocofiber is small, but a risk I'm not willing to take. Might be safer to go with a 'chunkier' substrate like coco bark? Repticarpet is safe, but my bluey wasnt a big fan and it was a pain to clean...

Any idea why he wont eat outside of his terrarium? I might go with the bark.

[Kurt]

No clue? I have a large rubbermaid tub that I use for feeding. My northern is a pig and will eat anywhere so it's no issue. My merauke is a little bit more reserved and will only eat in the tub about half the time. Have you tried using some type of tub?

[nmcnick]

Not yet, actually.. I just sat her on the table with some crawling worms and she wasnt at all interested. She just wanted to hide in my shirt lol. Ill try that when I can.

[UroFreak13]

Another option is feeding in a rubbermaid container with no substrait, it eliminates the risk of inpaction

[juliec1]

ok im new, so be patient... what is Impaction??

[UroFreak13]

It is when your animal injests substrait and they cannot pass it, a vet is usually needed to clear te inpaction

[nmcnick]

So I tried a rubbermaid container, works perfectly. Thanks y'all!

[UroFreak13]

Good some arn sure about eating in a strage place, glad it worked out

[Lea]

ok im new, so be patient... what is Impaction??

Impaction is the term used to refer to any blockage in the digestive tract. Faecal impaction can be caused by a number of things, it doesn't have to be substrate and can be related to dehydration or any other physiological/pathological cause.